0000000000598389
AUTHOR
Pilar Tomás
The effect of associative strength on semantic priming in schizophrenia
The present research was designed to investigate the pattern of semantic priming in schizophrenia as a function of strength of association (or semantic distance between concepts in the semantic network). Thirty schizophrenia patients, without formal thought disorder, and twenty-nine healthy controls participated in a lexical decision task in which prime-target associative strength (strong, weak and not related) and stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA: 250 ms and 750 ms) were manipulated. Patients and controls showed the same associative strength effect on RTs. In the short SOA condition priming effects were obtained for both strong and weak prime-target associative conditions. However in the lon…
A Comparison of implicit memory tests in schizophrenic patients and normal controls
The objective of the current study was to compare the performance of schizophrenic patients and normal controls on implicit memory tests. Two neuropsychological tasks were administered to 29 patients and normal participant samples. The implicit tests were: Word fragment completion and Word production from semantic categories. The priming score was the variable of interest. Priming effects are obtained in normal subjects and schizophrenia patients, regardless of the implicit test used. However, a dissociation in priming between normal and patient groups was observed, depending on the test used. For word fragment test, priming was identical between... (Ver más) the two groups. However, for wo…
Intellectual functioning and memory deficits in schizophrenia
Background: There is converging evidence about the existence of different subgroups of patients with schizophrenia in relation to intellectual ability (intelligence quotient [IQ]). Studying cognitive deficits in such patients in relation to IQ, and more specifically to memory, could help determine the patterns of preserved and impaired functioning in cognitive abilities in association with patterns of preserved and compromised intellect. This information could serve to delimit the possibilities of treatment and rehabilitation in those patients. Methods: A total of 44 patients with schizophrenia completed a cognitive battery that included executive functioning, attention, speed of informatio…
Effectiveness of the Cognitive Differentiation Program of the Integrated Psychological Therapy
The aim of the current pilot study was to compare two strategies in the application of the cognitive differentiation program of Integrated Psychological Therapy for people with schizophrenia. Twenty-six outpatients were randomly assigned to the application of the program in group sessions (CDg), or to its application in individualized sessions (CDi). The program provides cognitive exercises to promote better performance in cognition, and both groups of participants completed the same number of exercises following the same number of sessions per week. Outcomes were assessed on neuropsychological measures of attention, executive functioning and everyday memory, and everyday functioning. Effec…
WAIS-IV Performance in Patients With Schizophrenia.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is one of the most widely used instruments to measure cognitive functioning. The aims of this study were 1) to obtain the cognitive profile of Spanish patients with schizophrenia on the WAIS-IV; 2) to compare their profile to the profile of a healthy control group; and 3) to compare the cognitive profile of patients with schizophrenia to the performance observed in two separate previous studies in Canada and China. A sample of 99 outpatients and 99 healthy control participants, matched on age, sex, and educational level, were measured using the WAIS-IV, including 10 core subtests, 4 indices, and 2 general intelligence scores, to obtain their cognitiv…